Rudolf Arnheim, former Harvard Professor of the Psychology of Art, developed a theory that the perception of the structure of things in the world is based on simultaneous use of two primary systems: (1) the cosmic system of concentricity and (2) the parochial system of the Cartesian grid. The Cartesin grid imposes order, while the concentric system provides a midpoint or balancing center for everything that is seen. This paper provides experimental evidence in support of Arnheim's theory by demonstrating that a drawing's balancing center is measurable and that the measurement can be reliable and valid when compared with human judgment. The measure is then applied to test the hypothesis that the child's placement of a balancing center changes predictably with age. Thirty drawings, each representing one of 13 hypothesized balancing center locations, were collected from students in grades K-6; location of the balancing center was determined by computer and teacher judgments using (x,y) coordinates on a grid. Computer generated estimates of balancing point position on the vertical and horizontal axis of picture space displayed a very strong relationship to subjective teacher judgments of balancing centers. A set of 140 drawings from students in grades K-6 was also examined to determine whether the balancing centers changed predictably with age. Results suggest that children in grades K-6 show a strong bias for balancing centers situated near the geometric center of picture space. Five figures depict study results. An appendix shows the 30 drawings used in the balancing center analyses. (Contains 14 references.) (AEF)